It seems that we will indeed be going on a ‘jungle cruise’ with Dwayne Johnson in the next few years. With a script solidified, Dwayne Johnson has announced that Disney’s Jungle Cruise will move forward, and he has made room in his schedule. Johnson, who has been attached since 2015, will be starring in/producing the film. The film is expected to begin filming in spring of 2018.
The Jungle Cruise ride was one of the original rides at Disneyland, opening in 1955. There are now versions of the ride at the Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, and Hong Kong Disneyland. Inspired by the 1951 film The African Queen, which starred Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, the Disney ride takes guests in a 1930s style river boat through an environment combining jungles resembling Africa, South America, and Asia. There were plans for the film to be released a decade ago in 2007, and then after another round of rewrites, in 2011 it was announced that Toy Story pair Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were set to team up again for the film. But then yet again, pre-production delays caused a reworking of the script and the cast.
Glenn Ficarra and John Requa were the primary writers for the project. The two have previously worked on Cats & Dogs, Bad Santa, Bad News Bears and Crazy, Stupid, Love. Now that the script for Jungle Cruise is completed, and Johnson is attached, the search can begin for a director and additional cast members.
Foster Driver, an executive at Walt Disney Studios, is overseeing the project. John Davis and John Fox will also serve as producers. Davis has produced films such as Joy, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Robot, and Dr. Dolittle. Fox, who is VP of Production for 20th Century Fox, was a producer on Joy as well. Dany Garcia, the co-CEO of Johnson’s Seven Bucks Entertainment production company, will also most likely serve as producer along with Dwayne Johnson.
Stay tuned for more updates on Disney’s Jungle Cruise.
Leave a Comment